Puzzle 1
Starter clue: J = E
YJBZMJYXTHZSHHXPJECJLJGUZHHUJVEJZTHNBOJMTHZBO.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- L
- M
- N
- O
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- X
- Y
- Z
Hard Cryptograms Set 51
6 cryptograms to solve with a pencil. Each letter of the quote has been swapped for another letter, and the same swap holds all the way through.
20 pt ciphertext — the size a newspaper puzzle page never gives you. 26 pt ciphertext with wide letter spacing and room to write. Both sizes print on US Letter with the answer key on its own page.
Printing this web page instead? Press Ctrl+P (⌘+P on a Mac). The navigation and buttons drop away, and the answer key prints on its own page — open it below first if you want it included.
The puzzles
Puzzle 2
Starter clue: Y = T
XPJABGXBLRHYXRFPKLYRHYIJXGHKRYATVBYWHKYBFJXML.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
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- O
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Puzzle 3
Starter clue: G = T
GKDUQN,GQNJOAKOTLBOFJGDDAUT,SDAGHJU,JAUPOGGKDHJA.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 4
Starter clue: O = T
LOLACFEROSOEFBUOCMJFOCOCMACLJPSIISDALYOCMSBMFY.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 5
Starter clue: D = R
FWDAWTUGJHDVDYRJPVDWUADWUVRGJHDFCAALAMOCCDAVTU.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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Puzzle 6
Starter clue: B = A
FAMBPVTCVBSHQDNVWAPVBZBQIALKAZBGGQBCGVTHTSQALQ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
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- M
- N
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Solver's cheat sheet
- Most common letters
- E T A O I N S H R D L U
- Most common 1-letter words
- A I
- Most common 2-letter words
- OF TO IN IT IS BE AS AT SO WE HE BY OR ON DO IF ME MY UP AN GO NO US AM
- Most common 3-letter words
- THE AND FOR ARE BUT NOT YOU ALL ANY CAN HER WAS ONE OUR OUT DAY GET HAS HIM HIS HOW MAN NEW NOW OLD SEE TWO WAY WHO BOY DID ITS LET PUT SAY SHE TOO USE
- Common double letters
- LL EE SS OO TT FF RR NN PP CC
- Common word endings
- -ING -ION -ENT -TION -LY -ED -ER -EST
- After an apostrophe
- T (don't) S (it's) RE (we're) VE (I've) LL (we'll) D (I'd)
Want this on its own sheet? Print the letter frequency chart.
Show the answer key (6 solutions)
- “Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.”— Michel de Montaigne, 1588, Essays, Book III, Chap. XI. Of Cripples (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=X B=N C=I D=F E=L F=G G=W H=T I=Q J=E K=J L=V M=R N=U O=D P=B Q=C R=K S=P T=S U=H V=Y W=Z X=O Y=M Z=A
- “America is not and must not be a country without ideals.”— Calvin Coolidge, 1926, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=R B=I C=Q D=X E=F F=D G=C H=O I=B J=E K=U L=S M=L N=G O=V P=M Q=Z R=N S=K T=Y U=J V=W W=H X=A Y=T Z=P
- “The dog, to gain his private ends, Went mad, and bit the man.”— Oliver Goldsmith, 1766, An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=R C=Q D=E E=C F=V G=T H=M I=Z J=A K=H L=P M=L N=G O=I P=B Q=O R=F S=W T=S U=D V=X W=U X=Y Y=J Z=K
- “It is hard to track the path the ship follows in the ocean.”— Danish proverb, 1857, Recorded with English translation in Henry G. Bohn, A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (London, 1857)Cipher key: A=S B=C C=H D=W E=R F=A G=Y H=Q I=L J=P K=V L=I M=E N=B O=T P=F Q=M R=D S=O T=G U=K V=U W=J X=Z Y=N Z=X
- “Stretch your arm no farther than your sleeve will reach.”— English proverb, 1859, Recorded in Walter K. Kelly, Proverbs of All Nations, Compared, Explained, and Illustrated (London, 1859)Cipher key: A=E B=K C=L D=R E=Q F=S G=Y H=U I=Z J=O K=G L=V M=W N=D O=I P=F Q=B R=N S=X T=C U=H V=A W=T X=P Y=M Z=J
- “You are speaking before a man to whom all Naples is known.”— Moliere, 1668, L'Avare, Act V. Sc. 5 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=O B=A C=P D=G E=J F=Y G=L H=I I=T J=X K=H L=W M=U N=B O=C P=R Q=N R=Q S=K T=S U=Z V=E W=F X=V Y=D Z=M